What do you guys write off? Any clever ways to get tools or used cars covered? Each state is different I know, but federally, we all have the same crap right?
What do you guys write off? Any clever ways to get tools or used cars covered? Each state is different I know, but federally, we all have the same crap right?
Do you own a business that requires automobiles and therefore requires the capital equipment to maintain those vehicles? This is how you write off your tools, jack, air compressor, etc.
Yes. Wife owns a vacation rental cleaning business. I am a mobile repair tech. Also, forgot to ask permission, unsure if this violates anything. Delete if it does.
No permission needed. Violates nothing.
I guess it would only violate if you take a political stance and try to tell us why taxes are unconstitutional and a violation of your human rights all while taking jabs at the specific individual in the current administration who are to blame for this injustice.
I will add this advice... Pay for an accountant or tax specialist. As a general rule of thumb, a accountant or tax specialist will save you more (find you more deductions or keep you out of trouble) than they will cost you. So, don't think of it as paying them, think of it as spending the same money elsewhere.
I turbotax because turbo. It guides me through everything and i get to write off or depreciate anything used for business.
In reply to _ :
Your profile says your occupation is Automotive ventriloquist.
Does that mean everything is deductible as long as you make “Vroom Vroom” noises??
In reply to SVreX :
Lmao. Yes.
Definitely speak with a CPA, also make sure you have commercial insurance on your tools as your normal Homeowner's Policy basically provides no coverage.
My girlfriend works from home full-time, and I work from hom 2-3 days per week, and even my CPA told me it wasn't worth the red flags it would raise to go after the 10% mortgage/utilities write off.
And with the amended rules this year, I don't think it would make sense to try write-offs, vs taking the standard $12k deduction.
Not necessarily on topic but I second the tax professional comment. Mine is $105 to prepare and saved me tons of money as well as defending against an IRS audit.
I fully believe I would not have escaped the audit on my own despite no wrongdoing. The first year I used them they went over my last 3 years of returns and saved me $7k by refiling corrections I would never have found.
Turbotax makes things so simple, I can't see how an accountant is necessary for an average employee. Am I right to assume that these types of conversations are mostly relevant to people who own their own business/self employed?
The time to think about 2018 write-offs is at the end of 2017. Much easier to keep records organized.
Lof8 said:Turbotax makes things so simple, I can't see how an accountant is necessary for an average employee. Am I right to assume that these types of conversations are mostly relevant to people who own their own business/self employed?
If you are w-2's all the way with no business write offs then Turbo Tax is the way to go. My wife is full contract and drives probably 30,000 miles per year between various offices and needs lots of continuing education hours to keep her MD current. This is enough to need an accountant. Then we had huge flood losses from Harvey so we hired an accountant to straighten it all out. Turns out you can go back in time and refile the losses against previous years and get a refund, if you know how to do it.
Lof8 said:Turbotax makes things so simple, I can't see how an accountant is necessary for an average employee. Am I right to assume that these types of conversations are mostly relevant to people who own their own business/self employed?
Most likely. I used to use Tax Act to file my taxes. I started using a CPA when my ex-wife and I started filing together after refinancing the house into both of our names on a shorter note.
At this point, they have my past 8+ years of info, so I just send them all my paperwork, pay my $150, and let them handle it. Basically just out of laziness.
But please check your withholdings! I started my taxes last week and found that due to the change in the withholding tables caused by tax reform around this time last year, many people (including me!) who have not modified their withholding info are automatically withholding less from each paycheck.
Means that my wife and I had more money in our pockets this year but will owe the gubmint a big check mid April. How big of a check? Good thing I looked early so we have time to plan for the check, big.
Now, I would prefer to owe a little money rather than have a refund at all but this is more than a little money.
And the maths people say that the number of tax filers who get a refund might go down significantly this year because of that quiet little change last January. So just check your withholdings to make sure they are appropriate for 2019 at least.
Lof8 said:Turbotax makes things so simple, I can't see how an accountant is necessary for an average employee. Am I right to assume that these types of conversations are mostly relevant to people who own their own business/self employed?
I think it depends more on the person who you find to do it.
If the accountant just types your info into their version of turbotax for you, then average w2's only taxpayer sees no benefit. But if the accountant actually looks at it, tries a couple different things, (here's the real kicker) makes a recommendation or two for how the taxpayer could make small changes to be better the next year, then even the average w2's only type taxpayer could get a real benefit from paying a professional.
As with everything else, there are some good pros, tons of average pros, and some bad pros. The good pros are not that much more expensive than the average, but it takes work to find them.
I used to hawk turbotax until I learned they actively lobby to make it difficult to file manually. Berkley those asshats. A human will do a better job anyway, and costs about the same. Just avoid the chains like H&R that pop up just for the season. You want a fulltime accountant when possible.
In reply to Robbie :
I did my taxes last week and I've had similar results. I don't owe anything, but my refund is substantially less than in the past. I'm not counting on a big refund to pay for anything, but I fear for those who might.
Ian F said:In reply to Robbie :
I did my taxes last week and I've had similar results. I don't owe anything, but my refund is substantially less than in the past. I'm not counting on a big refund to pay for anything, but I fear for those who might.
Ugg. I never even thought about this. And for the first time in my life, I'm actually counting on a decent refund. Having to write a check would be another kick in the nuts I don't need right now.
I used my W2 and ran it through a few free options last week. I should still be getting a $1900 Fed refund according to it.
But single, one income, always claim 0 deductions, etc.
84FSP said:The first year I used them they went over my last 3 years of returns and saved me $7k by refiling corrections I would never have found.
Without sharing any personal info, is there any more details about what they did to save you $7k? That's impressive! Were these missed deductions, childcare stuff, self employed savings? Any relevant sections on irs.gov that they explained and you could share?
I have always done my taxes myself (by hand!), and am finally reaching a point in my life where the return is complex enough to consider hiring a pro. $7k would obviously be a no brainer to be worth it, but I don't see much fat to trim on mine.
I am hoping to start getting into mega backdoor Roth conversions next year, but some of the rollover provisions have me scratching my head.
_ said:Yes. Wife owns a vacation rental cleaning business. I am a mobile repair tech. Also, forgot to ask permission, unsure if this violates anything. Delete if it does.
The standard deduction doubled this year, pretty much across the board. Married filing jointly is 24,000. I'd guess that for most people, the standard deduction is going to be better than itemizing this year. I'm struggling to get over the 24k in itemized deductions, personally. TurboTax is still telling me to take the standard at this point. But I haven't done a schedule C in a long time, I'm not sure if that changes anything.
In reply to steronz :
Yeah 24k AND the tax credit for income and property tax is capped at 10k.
One place where being married could actually hurt you tax wise, since single is 12k standard and 10k tax credit cap. Married filing jointly is 10k cap and married filing separately is 5k cap each!
I'll be taking the standard deduction this year. I've always been on the cusp of taking it, but now it's an easy decision.
The standard deduction didn't really double if you combine the previous standard deduction with the now eliminated personal exemption.
To the OP - two words receipts and organize. Before the taxes can be calculated fan income statement needs to be created and you don't really want to pay the CPA to organize all your receipts do you?
Having kept track of your mileage total and work related your CPA will find it easier if receipts are in categories such as fuel and oil, vehicle maintenance, parts for jobs, tool purchases, and any other category you have.
You'll need to log in to post.
